Consultancy Position at International Rescue Committee - IRC

IRC began work in Nigeria in 2012 in Kogi state in response to the Niger and Benue Rivers flood emergency. In January 2014, IRC shifted its presence to northern Adamawa state due to the growing humanitarian crisis resulting from the Boko Haram insurgency. It remains one of the few international humanitarian actors present in Nigeria’s north eastern States of Emergency where IRC implements Health, Nutrition, Food Security, Child Protection (CP), Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE), Education, Protection, NFI/shelter, and Environmental Health (EH) programs.

The women & children health issues are the major concerns for IDPs within the state and returnee populations coming from neighboring countries like Chad, Cameroun and Niger. Protection of the women is another area which is directly linked with the health issues of the female population affected by the conflict in the affected states of north eastern Nigeria. Therefore, IRC emphasized upon the integrated health & protection issues and implementing its health & nutrition interventions for the IDPs within the camps, camp-like settings and s for those IDPs living in host communities. These programs are running with the support of community, relevant line departments of the state and local partners to provide the services to the IDPs living in and outside of the camps.

At the global level, children & women health, especially with the focus on their protection issues while living outside the camps in the host communities has been identified as most important issue faced by these IDPs especially their access to the health & protection services provided by either government or implementing partners. Most of these services are delivered through community led approach by involving the community volunteers and community itself to provide them easy access to these services. As IRC is providing these services to these IDPs in and outside the camps since beginning of 2014, it is imperative to assess the effectiveness community led health interventions and protection mechanisms on access to services and assistance for non-camp based IDPs.

Objectives of the Assessment:

Health: How does community engagement support greater access to Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services for IDPs who live with host communities?

How were community leaders and members involved in mapping out community led methods of ensuring access to MCH services?

How did IRC implement these methods and assess how effective they are?

Did IRC adapt implementation modalities accordingly?

How effective are mother to mother support groups and other community-led initiatives in providing social support to women from their peers and shaping their seeking out services?

To identify primary and secondary barriers to access to health & protection services.

Examine and compare sociocultural and economic factors at the household of the host & IDPs family to access these services.

Protection: How successfully are vulnerable IDPs linked to services through protection intervention within host communities?

How are community protection committees and structures ensuring protection of vulnerable individuals (IDPs) in their communities?

What mechanisms have IDPs put in place to protect themselves and access available services?

In which ways are vulnerable IDPs limited from accessing services? What factors limit them from access?

Did the training of community protection committees and structures enable them to identify, respond and mitigate protection risks?

How effective are advocacy initiatives on these issues through community-led awareness-raising and targeted outreach sessions?

What is the contribution of community-based monitoring in raising awareness of humanitarian community and their ability to respond to the particular protection concerns of targeted individuals and groups?

Evidence of change in the life of non-camp IDPs

Evidence of improved health

Improved psychosocial well-being

Improved resilience and coping

Improved maternal health

Improved behavior to access to these services

Main Deliverables:

Develop research protocol

Review relevant literature and materials used in current past.

Develop and share the preliminary protocol and questionnaire with Health & Protection team.

Dialogue with country office and field health and protection teams.

Finalize preliminary protocol and questionnaire after having feedback.

Conduct and Implement the assessment in the selected LGAs of the State

Develop recommendations for access to these services for non-camp based IDPs

Share findings with International Rescue Committee, Health and Protection Team.

Target of the assessment:

The target of the assessment will be internally displaced people (IDPs) living outside the camp in the host communities in Adamawa State.

Execution period:

The consultancy will be executed starting mid-January 2016 and the entire exercise will last between 30-40 days including final report submission. .

General conditions of the consultancy:

The consultant will be based in Yola, State of Adamawa and will spend most of the duration in the field. The consultant will be required to abide by the IRC security procedures and rules in place for IRC staff. While in the field, the consultant will be provided with security briefings from the field security focal person.

The consultant will conduct his/her work using his/her own computer equipment. Terms of payment will be negotiated upon acceptance of the consultancy. On the basis of the above proposed activities, the total budget for the consultancy will include VAT as and if required.

Final payment to the consultant will be dependent on the completion of all deliverables as well as handover note.

Background and Experience of the Consultant:

a) Education

PhD or M.Phil in Social Sciences or Anthropology preferably in health with relevant protection programing experience.

b) Work Experience

A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible work experience in research on health, nutrition and protection programs.

Competencies

Knowledge of current developments in the fields of research, behavioural sciences and public health.

Previous experience in conducting assessments for health and protection programs in developing countries.

Understanding of maternal & child health, and larger public health and protection issues in the context of IDPs setups.

Curriculum Vitae that is no more than 5 pages long with a cover letter

Proof of past similar assignments undertaken in the relevant thematic area

Proposed implementation plan and budget for this particular consultancy

Specific Security Situation:

Security in Nigeria remains unpredictable, especially in the north east and the Consultant is expected to comply with all IRC security policies and procedures applicable to international staff. As of posting, field access and travel is feasible but limited, and candidates should expect periodic further limitations on movement.

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